Customer Reviews

The Walking Dead: Compendium One

5 star:		(155)
4 star:		(25)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Most of the folks here already know that The Walking Dead saga is a compilation of stories by Robert Kirkman that expand on the story that is well know to any zombie movie fan. The main story. The one started in earnest by George Romero in 1968 with Night of the Living Dead [and was later remade in 1990 (the version that I prefer) by Tom Savini (with Romero oversight)].

This Walking Dead "Compendium" is a compilation of Volumes 1 through 8 (or call it Books 1 through 4, or call it issues 1 through 48), and it continues the story of (former) Police Officer Rick Grimes and his band of normal-world-refugees across a world suddenly infected by a Walking Dead sickness..

The group finds a new home after a perilous Georgia countryside journey at the start of the story only to find out that zombies may be the least of their problem, and what is deemed a safe haven is only as safe as the protection it offers against zombies. Yes...venturing out into The New World is dangerous. Outside the gates of the new home awaits unfathomable chaos and horror; hordes of the undead, along with other survivors in desperate situations that do the unthinkable to stay alive (or entertained).

As the story matures, it is much less about zombies and more about what happens to society, its morals, laws and standards when government is lost and the planet becomes mostly uninhabitable. There's real, heartfelt emotion in The Walking Dead series combined with believable scenarios.

I'm not a regular comic book reader, but I was drawn to The Walking Dead by the Book releases that bring the convenience of being able to get many chapters of the story without the month to month or volume to volume waiting. And I am now hooked. Now I subscribe to the issue releases.

Each chapter of The Walking Dead is like reading a screenplay with storyboards of a version of Night of the Living Dead that began simultaneously, but in a different part of the country. Sure...The Walking Dead is kind of a rip-off of a story (stories) already told, but the key is that it's done very very well. The zombies are true to the original Romero creation: slow and stupid as opposed to the Rage-infected people in 28 Weeks Later / 28 Days Later) or the fast zombies in the 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead.

So anyone in need of a very well done zombie fix that you don't put into your DVD player should absolutely get down with The Walking Dead sickness. Add this one to your cart if you're new to The Walking Dead...you won't be disappointed at its length because the story never gets tired.

When I heard that AMC was going to produce a television series based on the zombie epic "The Walking Dead," I was both concerned and delighted. A bona fide classic in undead lore, "The Walking Dead" graphic novels are brutal and surprising--not really what I would picture for a basic cable TV show (the first season is slated for 6 episodes, we'll see if it goes beyond that). But AMC has produced terrific and prestigious shows like "Mad Men" and "Breaking Bad," so I'm pretty stoked to see what they do with this. Add Frank Darabont of "Shawshank Redemption" fame as the creative force behind the show, and we just might have a winner! In anticipation, I've gone back through the volumes of "The Walking Dead" to discover again the many pleasures that this series has to offer. The Compendium Collects the first Eight Chapters listed below--a great value but a MASSIVE book!

"Chapter One: Days Gone By" is the jumping off point--and, in truth, sets things up in a fairly typical way. After being involved in a shoot-out, cop Rick awakes from a coma isolated, but not alone, in a local hospital. Apparently, in the time he was out, something has shifted in the world and now the dead walk. The chapter introduces Rick and many other principles as he tries to figure out what is happening as he crosses the state to locate his family. On the outskirts of Atlanta, Rick is reunited with his wife Lori, son Carl, and police partner Shane with a group of other survivors. At this stage, hope is still alive and people are just waiting to be rescued and order restored. While the set-up has been quite familiar, the chapter highlight involves a very real human betrayal that redefines the mindset of all involved. A lot of characters are introduced to set the basis for the rest of the story. Good, with an emotionally charged finale, this is a worthy introduction that gets our band of survivors on the road.

"Chapter Two: Miles Behind Us" picks up with Rick, Lori, Carl and the entourage seeking out refuge. Having given up on immediate rescue--the group now just pursues safety. This section is most notable for the introduction of Tyreese, a natural leader who forges a strong alliance with Rick. The group stills thinks that they can wait out the zombie problem if they can just find somewhere isolated and secure. A gated community seems just perfect and the group is thrilled by the prospect of some normalcy. But all is not as it seems, and "The Walking Dead" establishes that no one is safe. Chapter Two destroys what little innocence is left in our band as they face their first real losses as a new unit. It is well plotted, well orchestrated and genuinely harrowing as the group come to understand that safety is an illusion. While Chapter One was an effective plot set-up, this one really sets the tone of danger. Excellent.

"Chapter Three: Safety Behind Bars" finds our ragtag band of survivors moving into a new safe haven. This one has real promise--it's a well secured prison. While Chapter Two has forced us to confront the fact that no one is safe, new hope springs alive. Still wary from their encounter on Herschel's farm, the group extends an olive branch to the family to share the safety of their new digs. So a community starts to form again and the group begins to grow with the newcomers as well as four inmates that were alive in the prison. Building a safe structure takes the primary focus of this chapter but all the new people are still wary of trusting one another. Jockeying for dominance and leadership, this bloody good chapter makes us confront that the zombies are not the only dangers inherent in the new world. With murder, suicide, and betrayal--its starting to get harder to determine the good guys from the bad. And in true cliff hanger fashion, the safe haven may be slipping from their grasp--or actually, it may be ripped away!

"Chapter Four: The Heart's Desire" wraps up the prison cliff hanger from the previous chapter. Among other things, Rick takes another controversial step to defend his tribe. Is he losing his humanity or doing whatever is necessary to survive? As a new character is introduced, the enigmatic warrior Michonne, things start to unravel for Tyreese. Still haunted by his daughters death and what he did in its aftermath, his relationship with Michonne threatens those he is already involved with. The series retains its heart with the continuation of the love affair between Glenn and Maggie including a racy nude scene. But the destruction of Rick and Tyreese's friendship packs a huge wallop. Easily one of the more dramatic chapters, the series hits an all time high with Rick's "We are the Walking Dead" speech--an absolutely unforgettable moment of raw emotion.

"Chapter Five: The Best Defense" takes things in a new direction. Tracking a downed helicopter, Rick, Glenn and Michonne head off to look for survivors. What they discover instead is another encampment--a whole town fenced off and self sufficient! Perhaps less involving in the initial trek, the chapter picks up with the introduction of the town's "Governor." When our traveling trio discover that their new friend might not be an ally, it's already too late. Most notable for its extreme violence and brutality, both Rick and Glenn suffer severely at the hands of this new madman. Most of the material back at the prison is relatively uninvolving making this a weaker entry in the series. But the danger that Rick in Michonne find themselves in has very real consequences that set up a new storyline for the future. Essential, but somewhat unpleasant.

"Chapter Six: This Sorrowful Life" picks up with Rick, Glenn and Michonne held captive as the ruthless "Governor" tries to extract the location of their camp. Finding unexpected allies in the doctor, his young assistant, and a perimeter guard Martinez--a plot to escape has been hatched. The escape is exciting, but the real action comes when Michonne seeks retribution against the "Governor." In easily the series most disturbing sequences, let's just say Michonne means business! "The Walking Dead" has continually blurred the lines between "good" and "bad" and amped up the moral question of what makes a hero--and within this installment we see one of our protagonists exact horrifying vengeance! Returning to the prison, the camp has been overrun and our heroes must again face a zombie hoard. But in the midst of this, a very human betrayal is discovered and Rick is once again faced with the choice of murder. An action packed volume!

"Chapter Seven: The Calm Before" is a relatively peaceful edition of "The Walking Dead" as the name might imply. A small band rounding up supplies faces down more of the "Governor's" men. Then the group, wary of being discovered by their newfound enemy, starts to become complacent when no sign is of attack comes over the next few weeks. We see normalcy start to return as Rick and Lori confront unpleasant aspects of their relationship, Lori gives birth, Maggie and Glenn consider a family, Michonne starts to thaw, the new "doctor" gets comfortable. But in this peace, one of the crew finally goes over the deep end with unpleasant consequences. Sometimes sweet, sometimes sorrowful--this edition sets up real hope and is really great in furthering the character development aspects of the story. This makes it an unexpectedly strong entry in the series! But all is shot with one heck of cliff hanger!

"Chapter Eight: Made To Suffer" reintroduces the "Governor" and what happened in the aftermath of Michonne's visit. The rest of the volume is an all out assault as the "Governor" and his crew try to break into the prison. With some of the protagonists considering departure, it leaves an even smaller band to deal with the onslaught. Non-stop action fuels this story and there are severe casualties. In a brilliant and bold move, all expectations are thwarted in the bloody confrontation. "The Walking Dead," which has already established itself as an epic in zombie literature, bravely pushes to the next level! Riveting, heartbreaking, and very surprising--nothing will ever be the same after this battle! My favorite so far--if only for its audacity and "take no prisoners" approach!

Everywhere I turn these days, I see zombies: in movies, novels, toys, video games, clothing, and far too many comics to count. I am absolutely sick and tired of them, so when I would read glowing reviews of Robert Kirkman's comic series THE WALKING DEAD, I would scoff and move on to something else. But the glowing reviews continued, becoming even more positive as the series progressed, and I began to have second thoughts. Then Image Comics announced THE WALKING DEAD COMPENDIUM VOLUME 1, and I was sold on giving it a shot. This is a sturdy, high-quality softcover collection of the first 48 issues, printed on glossy paper. 1088 pages for $37 on Amazon is too good a deal to pass up, and this gamble more than paid for itself. Police officer Rick Grimes, shot in the line of duty, wakes up in a hospital bed. There are no responses to his calls for help. Eventually realizing that the building is vacant, he makes his way to the cafeteria for something to eat, at which point both he and the reader plunge into a horrifying realization of what has happened to the world during his recovery. From there, it's non-stop suspense, even during what could be considered the "slow points". Even though my overall opinion of the story is middling, I had a hard time putting this book down at night.

I am a big fan of post-apocalyptic fiction - Earth Abides, Alas Babylon, A Canticle for Leibowitz, On The Beach, The Stand, The Road, and numerous other examples of this subgenre are displayed proudly on my bookshelf. I'm not concerned as much with the details of whatever disaster befalls the world as I am with how the survivors deal with it, and that's what I get from THE WALKING DEAD. While the story results from a zombie plague, that's not the main attraction, and I'd be perfectly content if we never received an explanation of how it happened. The survivors are what drive this story, constantly struggling, battling hopelessness, gaining and losing friends, and not knowing if they'll see the following day. When they finally realize their place in this transformed world, it's a bigger chill than any flesh-eating, walking corpse can provide.

Even with all those positives, I can't say that I completely enjoyed the story. The earliest chapters, where Rick slowly comes to the realization of what has happened, and his first encounters with survivors, are exceptional. The isolation and despair are palpable, and these chapters stand out for their realistic tone - in fact, I feel that the most effective chapters are the ones where the least happens. However, once the town of Woodbury and "The Governor" enter the picture, it began to read like Garth Ennis took over as writer. I don't doubt that humanity could sink to some frightening depths in a disaster such as this, but some of the later chapters were so over-the-top that they seemed like simple shock value.

Tony Moore provides art for the first 6 chapters, with Charlie Adlard taking over for the remainder of this collection. Both artists do great work on this series, with their own particular strengths. Moore's facial expressions speak volumes, and Adlard's work is grim & gritty. Both of these guys can draw some horrifying scenes of death and destruction.

So, this compendium is your perfect chance to experience THE WALKING DEAD for the first time, as it gives you a good-sized chunk of the story under one cover, rather than having to buy multiple trades. Come witness the end of the world... and the beginning of a new one.

Having only discovered The Walking Dead first through AMC's television series adaption I had no idea idea it had actually first came from a comic book series. As I googled myself smart I also learnt that it in fact was one of the longest running series currently on the market. Now having read my way through a decent chunk of it I am hooked! and it's easy to see why with an interesting story more about survival and human nature than a token zombie story for the sake of it. Rick and a group of survivors are really put through the ringer and just when it seems everything is safe tragedy often strikes. They have to learn to live and survive together in the most outlandish situations. No one is safe from death or mutilation even the main cast. The series continues to entertain and surprize me and I have introduced many of my friends to it.

This compendium issue combines 8 volumes together in a soft cover addition. Having first purchased The Walking Dead, Book 1 (Bk. 1) as a hard cover addition which is bound beautifully both inside an out I find this one has a rather thin cover and is slightly too glossy - it seems to be marked easily as it has many fingerprints already. I also miss the colour covers which have been removed for the sake of the compendium. However in saying this all the artwork and story from the first 8 volumes are found inside. If you are after a cheaper collection of just the story itself I recommend this addition - but if you do enjoy the colour covers and superior binding then the handcover books are the best choice if you are willing to pay a bit more.

I'm looking forward to reading more of the series and seeing what hoops Robert Kirkman will make Rick Grimes jump through.

As a reader of comics for about 25 of the 35 years I have lived, I can say with some authority that this is the best series currently running. AND it has maintained that stature since the completion of it's first story: Days Gone By, which is of course included in this compendium.

The artwork of The Walking Dead may not have the most creative or stylized art, but as an art teacher I can say that the composition and style always support the needs of the drama, characters, and story. This is a black and white book, but that actually helps maintain the detail the artist includes; the grays and contrast are used to create feelings and moods that keep the reader hooked. The best thing about the artwork, however, is even beyond this huge compendium into issue 74 of the series it is consistent. You meet many many characters who fall in and out of the story, yet without giant S's or spiders on their chests' the artist manages to keep you aware of who's who - even when the cast count goes higher than the average X-men story.

As for the story, The Walking Dead is most amazing in that a huge earth-shattering Zombie apocalypse is only the scene on which the characters interactions and relationships are the star of the show - and that most fans don't even notice because of how sly Kirkman can be. Each included sequential story takes the stakes higher and pushes the reader to do anything to get to the next page, even to the point of speed-reading the zombie fights to get to the effect or aftermath of them.

The only fault of this book (garnering 4 stars rather than the deserved 5) is that it has been published in paperback and weighs about 5 lbs. This makes it nearly impossible to take with you, but if you do attempt to read it anywhere but a flat surface the tome will most likely pull itself into pieces before you're able to lend the book out to your friends (which no doubt you'll be dying to do).

A lot of reviews on this page are about the written work itself, not the actual product. Although I am an avid fan of the Walking Dead, I bought this book as a gift for my boyfriend. The price is below what you would pay in a bookstore, so props for that. My initial instinct was to get books 1-3 separately, but this compiled all of those for a better price. The book makes a good gift, its weight and endless images make it engaging and a quality purchase.

This is a fantastic way to catch up on the issues I have missed the last 5+ years and I feel that if you are going to start reading the walking dead then you should pick this up and every issue this does not include after it because you will want to find out everything you can once you start.

Also, this got to me a whole day earlier than they expected it to be here at the earliest. What I mean is I was going to get it in 5-8 days and I got it in 4. It was fantastic. Read this whole thing in about 8 hours of reading with stuff to do in between. It is amazing. Just prepare for your mind to be messed with.

I only became aware of the The Walking Dead after the debut of the television show, which I found to be a well done zombie drama. I looked at this book a few times at various stores but was hesitant because of the price, but I finally broke down and bought it. It was totally worth it! Never has the zombie genre been done so well.

First off, the zombies are slow, which are my favorite kind. The fast ones, as seen in 28 Days Later or the recent remake of Dawn of the Dead, seem impossible to defeat. Even an athlete would struggle to get away from one of those things, and although Zombieland and 28 Days were enjoyable for their own unique take on the zombie apocalypse, the slow zombies are the ones that provide the most interesting drama. The sense of a shuffling horde surrounding survivors just adds a constant and heightened tension, and has given me bad dreams for as long as I've watched these types of films! This book builds and expands on that tension, as people are driven away from society's old norms to the new world order dictated by survival.

There are several shocking moments in the book, both of the horrific nature of the situation the characters are in, but also the several revelations about the survivors as they interact and get to tell their stories. Both the dialogue and flashbacks give major and minor characters the chance to shine (or do the exact opposite, in most cases). It seems that while the dead rise and become more prominent, so too do the personalities of the survivors. Personality flaws are magnified; psychoses grow stronger, and fear and exhaustion weigh on everyone.

I appreciate the lack of thought balloons in the book, as there's more room on each panel to enjoy the excellent artwork. It is dark at times, illustrating the tension in the hot summer and cold winter experienced in the southeast. Other times, the page is so stark white that it shows how alone the survivors are. The gore from the zombies is well done, and many moments are downright disgusting. But that's what it's all about.

All in all, I'm still a superhero kind of guy. But I love zombie films and books because they expose the delicate thread we all hang onto in society. Although the likelihood of the undead rising is 0%, the fact is that if modern conveniences were suddenly taken away, how many would have the strength and preparedness to survive? Zombies are a great way to illustrate what would happen if all hell were to break loose. This is one of the absolute best of the genre at illustrating the simple truth: it wouldn't be pretty. And that is truly scary.

Zombies are boring.

There. I said it. And I'm not ashamed.

They are, though. Zombies have no real motivation, they have no goals other than to kill all humans. They are mindless, a kind of twisted force of nature whose great terror lies in their sheer numbers and their unstoppability. As a concept, zombies are interesting, and as a symbol or a metaphor there's a lot you can do with them, but the zombies themselves are kind of dull. They lurch about, slowly decaying, looking for people to devour. No one ever made a best-selling book or a hit movie with a zombie protagonist. [1]

Think about it: every zombie story rests on the same basic plot. The dead have risen and a small band of living survivors tries to find safety in a world that is actively trying to kill them. That's it. Sure, the details may vary - fast zombies or slow ones, a cure or no cure, they eat brains or they'll eat anything, trapped in a mall or a farmhouse - but the foundation of the story is the same, and woe betide the writer who strays too far from the formula. Writing a zombie story means agreeing to adhere to a set of predetermined set of rules, which allow only a little room for straying.

So what is it that makes zombie stories so popular? Why do people love books like this one, or Pride and Prejudice and Zombies or World War Z? Why do movies like Shaun of the Dead and Night of the Living Dead and even Resident Evil get people so excited? It certainly isn't because of the zombies, although it is always fun to see the special effects improve.

We read and watch zombie stories because we love the survivors, and it is they who make or break a zombie story. The more closely we can identify or sympathize with a survivor, the more interesting and horrifying the story becomes for us. They are a great demonstration of the variety in the human condition, and illuminate new and interesting aspects of humanity every time. In this case, we are given Rick Grimes as our protagonist, a police officer from a small town in Kentucky who gets shot on duty and wakes up a month later in the hospital to find the world has been given over to the dead.

As he looks for his wife and son, Rick finds himself leading a band of survivors in their search for a place of safety away from both the dead who wish to devour them and the living who wish to kill them.

What makes this a really fun - and terrifying - read is that Kirkman carefully paces the plot so that we never really get much time to rest. A pattern quickly starts to emerge in the story, with Rick and his people finding safety, a kind of equilibrium between running for their lives and resting, only to have that equilibrium disrupted. Each time the interval gets longer and longer, both in terms of page count and story-time, but each time you know what's coming. The hardest moments are the most peaceful ones, when they have found a refuge from the horrors of the world because you know it isn't going to last, and you know that when the balance is finally undone, it's going to be worse than before. Kirkman uses this pattern and this expectation to his advantage, creating a tight and tense narrative.

He also provides us with a look at some of the ethical problems that arise from a world where the dead outnumber the living. In nearly every zombie story ever written, the living immediately start killing the zombies, but is that the right choice to make? We don't know all the facts. We don't know what caused this outbreak, whether it can be cured, or even whether the people affected might just get better. We just start taking head shots in ignorance, but might it not be worth it to try and learn something about these "monsters?" [2]

There's also the question of how to organize a post-outbreak society. What kind of person or people should run the survivors' societies? Is this an opportunity to remake civilization, or should the old ways be adhered to? How much leeway to we have in restarting the world, and what will that look like in the end? The characters in this story have to deal with how to define a family when one's partner or parents or children could die at any time. They have a chance to redefine what is lawful and illegal, to toy with the notions of what is right and wrong, and to re-evaluate the role religion plays in their lives. It's a chance to rebuild the world from scratch, and the characters in this story test those limits in interesting and sometimes unsettling ways.

And that's assuming that the living will actually survive and thrive in a zombified world. This is a world where death is always only moments away. It is only a matter of time before the living survivors join the ranks of the undead, and the awareness of that fact is the classic existential puzzle with a little extra twist to it: how do you live when you know that you will die, and especially when you know the horror that your death will entail? One of the more heartbreaking moments is when one character gets killed, and Rick has to break the news to his young son, Carl. When he asks his son if he is upset, Carl replies, "No. People die, dad. It happens all the time. I'll miss [him]... but I knew he was going to die eventually. Everyone will. Everyone."

That is an observation that, frankly, no child should ever have to make.

The characters in this story make hard choices and sometimes do terrible things in the name of survival. But, with very few exceptions, there are few characters that we cannot truly come to understand and identify with. Their decisions and their reactions make them richer, more interesting, which is what truly makes for a fascinating and engaging story.

The zombies are really incidental to all that.

As this is a comic series, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the art, which is overall quite good. There were a few times when I had trouble telling some characters apart, but the high rate of attrition generally took care of that problem. The detail in the artwork is very impressive, though I can imagine there were more than a few times that Charlie Adlard cursed Robert Kirkman for setting a large part of the series in a locale with a prominent chain-link fence that couldn't easily be ignored. As this is a horror comic, the art is sometimes horrifying, very graphic and quite satisfying without being gratuitous. Well, mostly without being gratuitous....

It's a really excellent book, though I do have one caveat if you're planning to buy the compendium edition: get a reinforced reading harness, or rest the book on a solid piece of furniture with a low center of gravity. This is one of the densest books I've ever read, packing nearly five pounds of book into less physical volume [3] than the last hardcover installment of The Dark Tower, a fairly hefty book. I think the ink may contain uranium or something. So, take measures to prevent back injury and hernias when you read this and you'll be just fine.

Many thanks to my brother Michael for knowing I would enjoy this, and I look forward to watching the AMC television adaptation.

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"But honestly... I just don't know what anyone's thinking. To me, that's scarier than any half-rotten ghoul trying to eat my flesh."
- Rick Grimes, The Walking Dead
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[1] Cue angry email pointing me towards exactly that book or movie in 3... 2... 1...

[2] Short answer: no.

[3] It comes out to 1.147 grams per cubic centimeter, which isn't nearly as dense as it feels when it's making the straps of your bag dig into your shoulder....

I've never read ANY comics, but I just had to pick it up after watching the series on AMC. C'mon, was I really going to wait until October 2011 to find out what happens next?

The story is fascinating. I could not put this compendium down and finished it in one day. Let me warn you, it's HEAVY, you need the arm of a couch to balance this on!

I highly recommend this book if you're a fan of the show!